Here’s a fun story I found from Cumberland, MD, in 1875. However, as I wrote it, I found myself wondering if it was the truth. I’m not saying that the newspaper got the story wrong, but when I read the story as reported, I thought that maybe the “sleepwalker” wasn’t telling the whole truth. He successfully entered a jewelry store, or at least the store’s upper levels, after hours. Could he have been trying to rob the store, either consciously of subconsciously while sleepwalking?
And for it to take an hour to go down a flight of stairs, out the door, orient himself on a street he would have recognized and walk next door? That sounds a little far fetched, too. Might he have been looking around for a few “souvenirs” before he left and finding none, needed an excuse when he came out of the building?
I guess we’ll never know the truth, but this is one of those instances where it might be fun to take a historical event and turn it into historical fiction to explore the possibilities.
Anyway, the story itself is odd enough that it appeared in newspapers throughout the region in 1875. Hope you enjoy it.
http://times-news.com/local/x1818100579/Looking-Back-1875-Windsor-Hotel-guest-takes-nighttime-walk